The Quotation IndexThe trusted reference for quotations and the sources behind them
Tag Tag Experimentation
Focused, hard work is the real key to success. Keep your eyes on the goal, and just keep taking the next step towards completing it. If you aren’t sure which way to do something, do it both ways and see which works better.
John Carmack Re: Definitions of terms · 2002

Quotes

“I think that to keep trying new solutions is the way to do everything.”

Richard Feynman · The Meaning of It All, 1998 · Primary source

“I simply experiment, an endless seeker, with no Past at my back.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson · Circles, 1841 · Primary source

“If you’re pre-product market fit, the best advice that I have from that period is action produces information. So just like keep doing stuff.”

Brian Armstrong · Brian Armstrong: Coinbase, Cryptocurrency, and Government Regulation, 2022 · Primary source

“The old order won’t give way to the new without a phase of experimentation and chaos in between.”

Andrew S. Grove · High Output Management, 1983 · Primary source

“Experience never errs; it is only your judgments that err by promising themselves effects such as are not caused by your experiments.”

Leonardo da Vinci · The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci, 1888 · Primary source

“The test of all knowledge is experiment. Experiment is the sole judge of scientific truth.”

Richard Feynman · The Feynman Lectures on Physics, 1961-1964 · Primary source

“The Braun design department was always involved in self-initiated design studies alongside the usual daily workload. I believe that it is very important for designers to have the creative space to develop and refine their own ideas. Most of our studies never went into production—for various reasons—but they often gave important impulses to product development and our regular design work.”

Dieter Rams · Less but better, 1995 · Primary source

“All advances in engineering are tested first on small-scale models, in wave tanks, or in wind tunnels. Without models, the research would be prohibitively expensive, and progress would be correspondingly slow.”

Tony Hoare · Programming is an Engineering Profession, 1983 · Primary source

Related Tags

Judgement 31 Action 23 Uncertainty 20 Discipline 19 Evidence 19 Knowledge 18 Adaptation 17 Observation 17 Problem-solving 15 Execution 13 Organisational change 5 Braun 5 Research 4 Causation 4 Models 3 Inquiry 3 Intellectual independence 3 Self-renewal 3 Product development 3 Prototyping 2 Iteration 2 Empirical testing 2 Trial and error 2 Learning by doing 2 Startups 2 Engineering method 1 Transition 1 Goal focus 1 Tradition 1 Scientific truth 1 Design research 1 Creative autonomy 1 Product-market fit 1